


And They All Fall Down

by GalacticKookie



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Actor!Roman, Angst with a Happy Ending, Baker!Patton, Baker!Virgil, Crying, Dog - Freeform, First Kiss, First Meetings, Flowers, Flustered Logan, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Hanahaki Disease, Happy Ending, Hiding Emotions, Hiding Medical Issues, Love Confessions, M/M, Not fluffy but not sad?, Requited Love, Sarcasm, Teacher!Logan, blood mention, death mention, human sides, idk - Freeform, not super sad, panic attack (mentioned)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 12:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17425838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticKookie/pseuds/GalacticKookie
Summary: Patton just wants to be free of this disease.Wants to stop falling in love.Wants to not wake up hating flowers.There really isn't much he can do except wait it out.





	And They All Fall Down

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back! This idea came to me because I always loved reading Hanahaki fics and I decided, hey! Why not write one?  
> The title isn't based on anything, I just thought it was better than the original title (Which was Petals). It's basically talking about the flower petals and how they fall? And how Patton falls for all of these people?  
> I don't know, anyways, enjoy!  
> And as always, feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

This had happened to him one too many times. Six times too many, in fact. Patton was sat at the toilet, his head near the bowl as he hacked his lungs out. Small petals fluttered out of his mouth with the occasional full flower, speckled in small flecks of blood. Tears joined the flowers in the toilet bowl, his head in his hands as he cried.

-

_He remembers the first time it had happened. It was during freshman year, at his very first homecoming dance. Patton had jokingly taken his friend Joan’s hand and pulled them onto the dance floor and danced with them until both of their feet hurt and they were unable to stop smiling. Afterward, he had excused himself to the bathroom where he coughed until the ache in his chest felt a little lighter and a few petals littered the stall floor. Purple lilac petals, he found out later after looking up his condition. They meant first love. In his research he found that his condition was called Hanahaki disease, where the infected person grows flowers in their lungs when they fall in love, and the three ways to get rid of them included telling said person their feelings, wait it out and hope it goes away, or to get the flowers surgically removed but forget that person in the process. Without thought, he chose to wait it out. Thankfully, the flowers went away quickly. Quick enough that he had brushed it off as a one-time thing._

-

After the coughing had stopped, Patton flushed the toilet and wiped his eyes, watching the small flowers swirl and swirl until they finally disappeared into the watery abyss. He washed his hands, and dried them, before cleaning the blood on his lips and around his mouth. He stared at himself in the mirror for a moment, taking it all in. His blue eyes were bloodshot and he had bags under them, his lips were chapped and red, and his hair was a blond bush, unlike its usual curly self. He rubbed his face with his hands and yawned. The iron-y blood was all he could taste, so he made his way to the kitchen to grab a tub of ice cream and a spoon and went to his room. The dull ache never left his chest.

-

_The second time it happened had passed just as quickly as the first. Senior year of high school, Patton had watched as his close friend Talyn got into their first relationship. They were so happy, and it made him happy too, of course it did. Their bright smile made him so happy for them, he didn’t want to ruin their relationship, and so once again he chose to wait the flowers out. It wasn’t Talyn’s fault that whenever they hung out together he would excuse himself to the bathroom and have a coughing fit, his lungs burning. This time the petals were daffodils. Unrequited love. When he found out the meaning of the flowers he had winced and had another coughing fit. These lasted for a month or so, but whenever he saw Talyn, images of his bloody mouth in the mirror while petals littered the floor was all he could think of._

-

A ceramic bowl that was gifted to him by his mother sat beside him as he ate his ice cream, swaddled in blankets. Flowers were carved into it, which made it fitting for its purpose. The bowl was halfway filled with the flower petals and flower buds that he had been coughing up throughout the movies he was watching, all just as bloody as the next. Of course, his mother didn’t understand the irony of the bowl, he didn’t think he was ever going to tell her. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew he was getting worse. He didn’t understand why the flowers weren’t going away this time. It had almost been a year since the flowers had started. All he could do was hope that the feelings wouldn’t continue. All he wanted was to be free from this curse.

-

_The third time it happened was the most painful. Not painful as in physically, though the flowers coming up weren’t pleasant either. It was painful in the emotional sense. The flowers were Acacia this time. Concealed love. Patton knew exactly who these petals were for. He had met a freshman at his college who was taking the same class as he was. He was a sophomore this year and so he took the kid under his wing, helping him get to his classes, and they became fast friends. His name was Virgil Reed, an anxiety-ridden boy who liked to joke about him being Virgil’s paternal figure because of how many dad jokes were made. It made him so happy to hear that, so he prayed to whatever god was out there to help these feelings go away so he wouldn’t hurt his new friend. The petals lasted until the beginning of his junior year. These were the longest lasting flowers._

-

“Hey Pat, are you sure you’re okay?” 

“I’m alright, Virge. It’s nothing to worry about.” Patton let out a half-hearted cough and cleared his throat painfully to try and make his sickness convincing. The flowers that had bloomed in his chest made that easy.  
  
He was still curled up on his bed, and it was late in the day. Tears stained his freckled cheeks, his eyes were puffy and red from crying as well. His circular glasses were sat on the side table, and the TV was off. There was the ice cream tub that laid on his bed, long forgotten and empty, and the bowl of flowers was almost full. Virgil had called him to get some help on a recipe that he was making for the bakery they had opened together, and he had picked up on how his friend was feeling at the moment.   

“Pat, you know you can tell me anything, right?” The worry seeped into his friend’s voice, and he gave a strangled smile to nobody, holding the cellphone to his ear.

“Of course, kiddo. I promise I’m fine.”

  
After he had hung up the phone, he coughed up another flower.

-

_Junior year of college it happened a fourth time. This was about the time that Patton had started to get sick to his stomach if he ever was given flowers, though thankfully that happened rarely. No matter how much he hated the flowers, the feelings he didn’t mind. It felt so nice to be in love, though knowing every single time that they weren’t reciprocated broke him. And yet, he refused to get them removed. He never wanted to forget the people that he loved, both platonically and romantically. The flowers were Hyssop, pretty purple things, and they meant sacrifice. These belonged to Roman Prince, though he guessed that the reason the petals were Hyssop weren’t just because of Roman. Roman was introduced to him through Virgil, and he was one of the biggest flirts that Patton had ever met. Not only did Roman already have a nickname for him as soon as the two met, but he had such a charm that it wasn’t a surprise that feelings had appeared so quickly after meeting the actor. Patton watched as Roman and Virgil got closer, growing a new and beautiful relationship, one of the healthiest relationships he had ever seen. He understood then why the petals were Hyssop. It made it hurt all that much worse. It did make him happy to see Virgil with someone who made him feel loved, so he gave up trying, letting the flowers run their course._

-

It was a wonderful Wednesday morning as Patton got ready for work. He had decided that he was well enough to come to work today, as he hadn’t coughed up much during the night and not at all that morning. He pet Spot, her tail wagging so hard he liked to joke sometimes that it might fall off. He tied his cardigan around his neck and made his way to the bakery. 

A smile came to his face as his bakery came into view. The place was his and Virgil’s pride and joy. It was painted white, and the large glass windows in the front let him get a good look of the inside. The interior was painted pastel versions of blue and purple, the two boys’ favorite colors, and the tables were white and covered in rainbow polka-dots. He could see the counter as he approached the doors, seeing Virgil standing behind the counter and talking to Roman who was sitting on it. They shut their mouths and both turned to him with a worried expression as he walked inside, the little bell jingling to announce his arrival. 

“Hey kiddos, what’s with the long faces?”

Virgil took a deep breath, looking a little pained as he looked at him. “Pat, are you okay?”

Patton’s blood ran cold. He plastered a confused expression on himself as he looked at his friend. “Of course, Virgil. I told you that yesterday.”

Roman opened his mouth to start talking but a sharp look from Virgil shut his mouth. Virgil looked back at him and sighed. “Patton, if you’re fine, then why have you been out sick at least five days in the past month? And if you’re fine, then how do you explain this?”

Patton gaped as Virgil pulled out a bloodstained petal from his pocket, feeling the tears well up in his eyes. He didn’t understand. He had been so careful, so very careful, to never get any petals where anyone might find them. They couldn’t know. So how did one slip out of his grasp? 

“Virgil,” he started, hoping the tears were covered by his glasses and not evident in his voice. “How do you know that flower even came from me?”

The younger deflected his question with one of his own. “How long, Patton?”

He shut his mouth as he watched his friend’s eyes well up with tears as well. Virgil’s expression, a hurt sort of pain, broke Patton’s heart. He swore to himself that no one would ever get hurt because of his condition and yet here he was, having hurt two of his closest friends. 

Virgil’s pained expression broke. The words came out, quiet and sad, the tears spilling from Virgil’s eyes, making his black eyeshadow and eyeliner run as well.  “How long?” 

“Since I was in my freshman year of high school.”

-

_The second to last time happened right after he had graduated. Patton bought a house in a nice neighborhood after he started his bakery business with Virgil, and the occasional help from Roman as well, when he wasn’t busy. The business had boomed, and he had finally been able to move out of his apartment and get a dog as he had always dreamed. He had made friends with one of the new neighbors as he was walking his new border collie, Spot,  and it evolved from there. Thomas was his name, and he was a Gloxinia. Love at first sight. Their friendship bloomed just like the flowers in his chest, and he finally was able to accept that this cycle was never going to end. Patton was thankful that like all of the others, these flowers passed quickly._

-

By the time he finished with his explanation, they were all crying to varying degrees. Roman was sobbing loudly into Virgil’s jacket, leaving dark tearstains in the purple areas, Virgil’s breath was shaky when he breathed in and tears drip drip dripped down his face in a steady stream, and Patton was silently crying, the droplets of water dripping off of his chin and onto the ground. As soon as he had stopped talking, Roman draped himself onto Patton in a large hug. He was so tall that he basically engulfed Patton, and the words of apology gushed out of him like a waterfall.

“Roman, please. You really didn’t know. There’s no need for you to be sorry.” he smiled down at his friend who was clutching the gray cardigan that was tied around his neck.

Virgil walked over and joined the hug too after wiping his eyes with his jacket sleeve. “Pat, I really hope you know how much we love you to death. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“I didn’t... I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I made sure to conceal the flowers, to wave off the questions by saying I had a cold. It wasn’t hard.”

Virgil shook his head. “You wouldn’t have hurt us, you doof. That’s what friends are for.” He stopped for a second, something crossing his mind. “Wait, why didn’t you tell anyone? The feelings, I mean.”  
  
“I knew that none of them were reciprocated. I looked up the meanings of the flowers every single time. And I was okay with that, it isn’t their fault that I’m sick. it’s easier to keep it to myself than to burden other people’s relationships with my medical issues.” He laughed half-heartedly.  

“Nobody knows, then? Just us two?”

Patton nodded in confirmation and started to walk behind the counter to set up displays and start baking before Roman stopped him.

“Woah woah woah, Padre. Where do you think you’re going?” 

“Um, I’m going to set up, silly.” He turned back around to face Roman.

“Well, aren’t you going to tell us who the lucky person is that stole your heart this time? What do the petals of this flower mean?”

Virgil smacked Roman’s arm. “Roman! He’s already going through plenty, you don’t need to get him to talk about that! It probably causes him pain.” 

“No, no Virgil, it’s okay, honestly.” He smiled softly, beginning the last story.

-

_A few years after he had moved into his new neighborhood, someone bought the house next door. As a welcome gift, Patton had baked the person cookies, a variety because he didn’t know what his new neighbor liked. With a skip in his step and a twinkle in his eye, he knocked on the door of his new neighbor’s house, cookie plate in hand._

_The door opened to reveal a professional looking man, his dark hair slicked back, rectangular frames adorning his face, and a necktie around his neck. Patton smiled brightly at him, and the man gave an uncomfortable smile back._

_“Um, hello there. May I ask, who are you?” The man adjusted his necktie as he looked down at Patton with confusion._

_“Hey, it’s nice to meet you! I’m Patton, Patton Foster, your next door neighbor! I brought you a plate of cookies to welcome you to the neighborhood, but I didn’t know what kind you liked so I just baked a bunch.”_

_“Well,” the man cleared his throat, a blush lightly coating his cheeks. He was clearly not used to kindness like this. “That is very kind of you. It is adequate to meet you, Patton Foster. I am Logan Taylor.”_

_Patton’s smile widened more, if possible. “Logan! That’s such a cool name. Well, don’t you want your cookies?” He held them out for Logan to take._

_“Um, yes. Thank you again, Patton. I believe I will see you around.”_

_“Yup! Bye, Logan!” He turned around and skipped back home._

-

Virgil looked up as the bell jingled, announcing that someone had entered the bakery. He listened as Patton continued his story, the cardigan-clad man was unaware anybody had entered. Roman was just about to open his mouth to say something to Patton when Virgil put his hand up slightly, stopping him in his tracks.

Behind Patton stood the same man that Patton had described in his story. Virgil knew him from coming into the bakery somewhat often, so the two were familiar. Logan opened his mouth to say something as well when Virgil made a shushing motion with his hand and inclined his head towards Patton.

-

 _Their next meeting was_ at _the bakery. Patton was working the counter, Virgil was in the back baking, and Roman had a gig out of town so he wasn’t able to be there. The ring of the bell made Patton’s head pop up from the register, and his eyes widened to see Logan. It seemed Logan was surprised to see Patton as well._

 _“Logan! Hey! Nice to see ya!” He smiled brightly at his neighbor, clasping his hands together. “So, what did you come in here for?”_  
  
_Logan scratched the back of his head, scanning their chalkboard menu, which was written in Patton’s loopy handwriting. “Hello Patton, it is adequate to see you as well. Could I please have a coffee and a chocolate chip cookie?"_

 _“Absolutely. Coming right up!” As he busied himself with getting Logan’s coffee, he asked, “So, on your way to work?”_  
  
_Logan shrugged with a slight smile. “Not yet, though I most likely will be coming here often before work. I am a new teacher at the school this year and I needed to find a good place to get coffee before the year started.”_

_Patton nodded his head knowingly. “I bet, kids are pretty wild.”_

_He gave Logan his coffee and cookie, ringing him up and waving him goodbye as he left. It was then that Patton noticed the heaviness inside his chest._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_The flowers started coming a week after that. He was out walking his dog and chatting with Thomas when he saw Logan sitting on his porch in pajama pants and a t-shirt, reading a book with a cup of what looked to be tea sitting next to him. Having only seen Logan in f_ ormal wear, he just about tripped over his own feet.

_“I’m gonna go say hi to Logan, I’ll be right back!”_

_Thomas chuckled and shook his head. “No, go talk as long as you’d like. I’m going out for lunch with my brother so I have to go anyways.”_  
  
_“Well, thanks for walking with me anyways!” They hugged and Patton watched as Thomas walked off before making his way over to Logan._

_“Well, you look comfy!”_

_Logan jumped, his eyes going wide behind the frames of his glasses. “Goodness, you scared me. And yes, I am comfortable, though I didn’t expect to interact with anybody looking like this.”_  
  
_Patton smiled and winked cheekily. “Well, you look very nice either way, so don’t worry too much about it.”_

_The tips of Logan’s ears went red as he tapped his fingers methodically against the book. “Why thank you, though I much prefer to look nice when I have company.”_

_Patton nodded. “Of course, that’s understandable.”_

_The two chatted for a while and Logan pet Spot (she had taken a liking to him) before he excused himself to go home. They exchanged numbers as well, and he was quite excited to hang out with Logan more and get to know him. As soon as he walked into his house and shut the door, he had a coughing fit, and a single petal sat in the entryway to his home._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_The petals got worse the more they hung out, though it’s nothing that he regretted. At the end of the day, he knew the flowers would eventually leave, and that he would be left with a new friend. He hadn’t even bothered to look up the meaning of the petals because of this. The two had grown quite comfortable with each other, and Patton was never afraid to ask the questions on his mind so it made it easy to get to know the other. So far he had learned that Logan was a math and science teacher, he had a pet beta fish named Sherlock, he adored reading, and his favorite color was blue. He just ignored the fluttering of his stomach and the blush that coated his cheeks and the ache of his chest when he was with Logan._

_As the months passed, the flowers gave way to small flower buds, which scared Patton a little bit. This had happened before with Virgil, so he shrugged it off as well. The situation with Virgil never got any worse. It wasn’t until he coughed up a fully bloomed flower that he started to get worried. The flower that came up was beautiful, just like the petals it bore, although as he coughed up more and more of the beautiful flowers, he noticed his voice had started to get scratchy. He continued to hang out with his friends, praying they wouldn’t notice anything, and when someone finally mentioned something, he brushed it off as a small cough he had. Nobody could know, especially not Logan._

_It was around this time that he started taking sick days if the flowers were too abundant or if they hurt too bad. It was usually only once or twice a month, but they added up and continued to happen. He realized that the flowers weren’t going to go away, that they were going to continue to get worse until he died. Patton had a full-on panic attack that day. Thankfully he had practice dealing with them because of Virgil but it took him a long time to come to terms with the fact that he was going to die. He continued to refuse to tell anyone about his situation though. He had to keep them safe._

-

“And now I’m here with you guys. The flowers had gotten so bad this month and I took five sick days and Virgil noticed, which lead him to call me. And apparently, you guys had found one of the petals from I don’t know where and you confronted me. That’s about it.” Patton shrugged, finishing up his story. 

Virgil had his hands over his mouth, shock evident in his expression. Roman was rubbing Virgil’s back comfortingly, though he was biting his lip to the extent it looked painful. Logan was crying behind Patton’s back, his fingers digging into the palms of his hands to keep him from making a sound so Patton didn’t know he was there. It’s then that Patton realized he had just told his friends that he was dying. That he had come to terms with the fact that he was going to die.

“Guys I’m sorry I didn’t mean to freak you ou-” his sentence was cut off as he coughed painfully, convulsing.  
  
Virgil panicked and he rushed to his friend’s side, but Patton brushed him away. Through his coughing fit, he explained that this was normal. He was going to be fine.  
  
Eventually, a flower ripped its way out of Patton’s throat and onto the floor. They all stared at it except for Patton, who was rubbing his throat. A soft whisper came from behind him and he whipped around, eyes wide.

“How long have you been here?”

“Long enough.”

“What were you saying before?”

“Ambrosia. That is the flower that is sitting on the ground in front of us all. Would you care to know what it means?”

Patton shook his head. He looked at the flower then back to Logan sadly. “No, I’d rather not know. I don’t want to be disappointed again.”

“I think you will like this one.” The taller gave a small smile, taking a step towards Patton. “It means requited love.”  
  
Patton gasped, clasping his hands over his mouth. He felt lighter, and not just in the emotional way, but the physical way as well. Virgil and Roman made their way to the kitchen to actually begin getting ready for the workday but also to give the two some time alone.

“How long?”

Logan chewed on his lip, his cheeks flooding with color. “Since the day I became acquainted with your dog.”

A fond smile adorned Patton’s face as he ran up to Logan, embracing him. “My dog, huh?”

Logan rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Yes, I only reciprocate these feelings because of your dog. Of course. What logical sense.”

“Hmm, I totally can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic!”  
  
They laughed, and Patton laid his head on Logan’s chest. His heart felt like it was about to burst, though it was because he was happy. He didn’t remember the last time he was this happy.

Logan drew back from the hug a little, placing his hand on Patton’s cheek, the latter of whom leaned into the touch with a smile. Logan leaned down, placing a soft kiss atop Patton’s head. Patton looked up to Logan, eyes wide.

Logan pulled his hand away quickly. “I apologize. Was that too much?”  
  
“Not at all.” Patton then grabbed Logan’s tie, pulling him down into a kiss. It was soft and filled with emotion, and the two pulled back with the same adoring expression. It was clear they loved each other.

Logan cleared his throat, chewing on his lip again. “Um, Patton, now that we have feelings out of the way, I was wondering if you would care to accompany me on a romantic outing?” He scratched the back of his neck with his hand, averting his eyes. “I feel that instead of rushing into things, we should take it slow. If that’s okay with you.”  
  
“Of course it is, Lo! When?”  
  
Logan flushed at the nickname. “How does this Saturday sound? I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“That sounds wonderful.”


End file.
